Welcome To Knockturn Alley
by Crucioc0cks
Summary: The wizarding world has fallen into turmoil, muggleborns suppressed into slavery under the sadistic rule of purebloods. Hermione is caught on the run and sold into the sex trade. Her first day on display, a young pureblood has come to prove himself. (Started as a graphic series on Tumblr)
1. Welcome To Knockturn Alley

"Come now Draco." Narcissa whispered and led him down the dark, musty alleyway.

Since the Great Revolution when the muggles fell, it was tradition that every young pureblood man was to acquire slaves. Their first was, as tradition, a sex slave. To be used often or not, it was best to acquire slaves in all the trades. It was like stock, better to have a variety.

Draco ducked his head a little lower as he passed through the archway and stopped just behind his mother who cleared her throat daintily.

Draco could feel the sunken eyes of his father boring into the back of his head. He hated the feeling of being babysat. Always had. But since his track record for not following through on tasks, his parents were unwilling to see there son and themselves ridiculed again.

" I'll go inquire the Keeper about a display." Narcissa told the men in a hushed voice, and stepped inside the whore house without another word.

"It doesn't matter what you do with them boy. Beat them, ignore them, rent them… just don't get attached. They're pieces of meat Draco. Nothing more." Lucius' mono-sylable tone made Draco's insides shiver, but he fought the instinct when the display window curtain rose and the carousel began to turn.

As the carousel turned, Draco noted the tags tied to their arms. Some read USED. Some read OLD. Others read NEW. Some even read SOLD, these girls looked especially uninterested in giving him a show.

It was nearing the end of the first full turn of the carousel when he saw her. Slumped against the display glass, an empty bottle of Ogdens Finest loose in her hand. Her hair had seen an attempt at styling, but refused to succumb to the product. Draco felt disgust for the idea of owning a slave for sex. But his stomach ached when he recognized Granger's freckled face sleeping in the window of a whore house. Her tag read NEW in a freshly inked scrawl.

He wasn't sure if he was glad or disturbed that neither of his parents made any verbal acknowledgement of her identity. He watched her slumped form disappear as the carousel continued to turn. As the selection began to repeat, he waited around, eyeing the girls, in the attempt to not seem to eager.

Hermione Granger. The golden girl of the famous golden trio had been sold into the sex trade. He watched as he slumped figure came into view again and the fresh ink egging him on. NEW. Untouched. Relatively unscathed. Innocent.

Draco stepped away from his parents and headed inside. His coin purse thudding onto the counter.

"I would like to purchase the new girl."

And just like that, Draco Malfoy owned Hermione Granger


	2. Welcome To Malfoy Manor

The floor creaked beneath the antique rugs as he walked through the East Wing. He didn't know what he was still levitating her. She was sickeningly thin now. Perhaps it was a subconscious fear of breaking her but more likely was the foul stench the clung to the old cloak she had been draped in.

He opened a door at the end of the corridor and followed her weightless dorm through.

Waving his wand, he gently lay her across a dusty settee and whispered,  
"Finite Incantatem."

He watched as she began to stir, a slight grimace pulling across her lips. He whispered "Silencio" then proceeded to clean the unused suite and ensuite.

Waving his wand lazily, watching as dust began to fade and color began to shine under the flickering light of candles lighting themselves.

Standing over her he finally spoke to her, "Wake up Granger".  
His voice almost too weak to be a command but to firm to be a whisper.

"Granger" She opened her bleary eyes and opened her mouth. A hand reaching for her throat she gave him a protested look.

"I don't apologize, but it's better this way for now." He dismissed her anger and commanded her once more.

"Get up." She shrunk back and curled her legs close to her body in every virgins fear.

"Let's get one thing clear Granger: You are my property. You will obey me, preferably without the use of an Unforgivable. I do not plan on defiling, raping, or torturing you. You are to be at my service whenever I please, however I doubt your _services_ will be rendered often or at all. This is your room. You are to keep it clean and mend anything that requires it by hand. You will be given clothes and if I so choose, gifts such as books. Tomorrow I will show you your boundaries in the Manor and any chores I require you to perform within. This was business Granger. You are my property now, so you will get up and strip out of that disgusting cloak."

There was a long pause where Hermione glared at him, her eyes glossy with tears. She lowered her head and slowly stood before him.

"Take it off" his voice nothing but business and he was pleased when she shrugged the dingy cloak off to the floor.

"Incendio" he whispered, and the cloak burned to ashes on the antique rug.

Then they stood there. In silence, her arms reach for modesty and his eyes searching for her eyes. She refused to look up.

"Gilly!" he called out loudly, making her jump.

With a pop, one of the many house elves appeared beside them.

"Yes Master Draco?" Gilly bowed, her ears flopping over her head.

"Please bathe Miss Granger, bring her some tea, and turn down the bed. That is all, thank you."

Gilly bowed even lower, the tips of her ears now touching the floor.

"Yes Master Draco. Come now Missy Granger. Gilly is to wash you and puts you to bed." The little elf directed as she grabbed Hermione's hand that was covering her lower bits.

With that, Draco turned and left the room, the loud click of the door lock reverberating through the room.

Hermione had been staring at the locked door when she felt Gilly pull on her hand again, "Miss? Miss must wash! Is Miss alright?"

Hermione took a hesitant step towards the ensuite and nodded.

He had never been kinder to her and now, now she belonged to him.

Hermione belonged to Draco Malfoy.


	3. Welcome To The East Wing

Hermione's eyes fluttered open beneath one the feather down pillows of her new bed. The bed had the faintest smell of lemongrass and the remnants of a soft flowery perfume. She would have enjoyed it if not for the idea of another woman like her having slept there before.

She emerged from the pillow, her freshly washed and cut hair bouncing around her face. With a heavy sigh she gave into stretching her body, her toes curling as her back arched against the sinfully soft mattress.

At the sound a single knock, Hermione sat up and pulled the bedsheet up to cover herself.

Draco stood just inside the door, "Please get up, bathe, and dress."

And then he was gone, the door clicking gently as it shut behind him.

He said _please_.

Hermione, keen on having her voice returned, slipped out of bed, shivering as she tiptoed in the nude to the ensuite. She gave her first weak smile to Gilly the elf who was pouring a purple bath salt into the warmed tub.

"Good Morning Missy Hermione!" Gilly piped happily.

Hermione let herself soak in the purple milky water while Gilly washed her hair. She was beginning to feel useless and then remembered her only purpose within the Manor.

She sniffed back tears as Gilly announced she was done lathering Hermione's hair, and with that, Hermione slid beneath the water and washed her soapy tears away.

Standing in the almost sheer nightgown, Hermione waited for him to return for her.

She had never gone so long, under a Silencio spell and began to wonder what long term usage effects had on the vocal chords. She wiggled her bare toes on the fur rug beside her bed imagining life she would live here in silence.

The door opened and the flash of his up and down glance was almost missed, had it not been for the slight nod of approval he gave her.

"Good, follow me please."

Hermione followed him out of her room and down a heavily tapestry-ed hallway until they reached the end of the hallway where two oak doors opened way for them at the flick of his wand. Hermione felt the faint sensation of magic and it made her wrinkle her nose to keep from crying in front of him.

The doors creaked open slowly to a sun-filled hallway of tile and marble. Hermione stood in the doorway, breath taken at how beautifully the sun rays beamed through the glass windows and seemed to make everything golden.

Hermione had not seem such brilliant light and color for almost a year and a half and now, she was bathing once more in the warm and delicate rays of the bright star in the sky.

"This is the East Wing of Malfoy Manor. You will have full access of this wing and all of its rooms, except for one."

He began walking the long hallway, and beckoned for her to follow. She followed at a distance, still rather uncomfortable being in his presence. He looked broader and older than he did two years ago. His voice had dropped a full octave too. All in all, Hermione acknowledged he had grown up quite a bit, physically at least.

"It's tradition," he said in an almost mocking tone "in the Malfoy family, that when a man comes of age he is given is own wing of the Manor." She watched as he shook his head at the idea and opened a door on their right, "These are to be your new quarters. I will have the furniture moved for you tomorrow."

He opened the door for her to peer inside and Hermione's mouth fell open slowly at the room almost twice the size as her already grand bedroom. The soft creme colored walls with pearl grey trims and accents was stunning. With a fireplace and room for a sitting area, Hermione focussed on a dusty shelf with books along the far wall. The twin doors on either side of the bed leading to her private ensuite and dressing room.

Had she a voice, she wouldn't know how to use it for this gesture of respect and kindness was overwhelming especially, from Malfoy.

Nodding with flushed cheeks she looked at her bare feet and sniffed back her emotions once more.

"I'll take that as a _thank you_ then."

He shut the door and they walked a little way further before he spoke again, this time hesitantly.

"This- this is my room." they both looked at the door in silence for several awkward moments before he continued down the hall.

She followed him around a corner that opened up to a small ballroom which led to a balcony.

Leaning against one of the floor to ceiling columns, Hermione watched as he looked out the glass doors to the sprawling landscape.

"It's almost dusk…" she heard his explain as he withdrew his wand.

"Finite Incatatem" he whispered as he turned to face her.

Immediately, Hermione felt the the heaviness melt away from her throat and she sighed.

"…Th- Thank You…" she whispered groggily.

He gave a single nod and turned back to the glass doors,

"You are to address me as Master. If you are to address my father you will address him as 'Master Lucius' and my mother 'Mistress Malfoy'. Do you understand?"

Hermione's mind had become flooded with questions that had been brewing in her mind since she arrived and now that she had a voice they were all so tempting. However, having just been granted the power to speak again, she didn't wanted to do something stupid and have it taken away once again.

"Do you understand me?" he asked with a snap in his voice.

"Ye-Yes….Yes Master."

She watched him nod and turn to leave.

The fading echo of his shoes stopped short and she looked back to see him turning.

"One last thing Granger…"

She waited patiently as he stared reverently at the stone floor.

"I will require your presence later this evening. Be dressed and ready by nine. And Granger… what you're wearing now is fine. It won't really matter anyway." And then he left.

Hermione listened to her heart pound in her ears.

_Won't matter anyway?_

__Oh No.


	4. Welcome To The Wilderness

I own nothing - Started as a graphic series on Tumblr

* * *

*****FLASHBACK*****

"HARRRYYYY!" she screamed as the jet of green light hit him square in the chest.

It was like a vacuum had sucked the air from her lungs. Dry, stagnant, and numbing. Her heartbeat pounding in her ears doubling as she watched him fall to his knees, his eyes, his glittering emerald eyes locked with hers until any remnants of life faded from them as he fell into the dirt.

That was it. That, was the end.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" her scream echoed against the marble walls of the Ministry caverns. She had never screamed like that before. And it frightened her even more. It was the powerful scream of a sister losing a brother. Fueled by pain The kind of pain one feels when all hope is lost and the reason worth fighting is gone.

She scrambled to her feet and ran for his lifeless body, refusing to believe her hero was gone forever.

Dodging the jets of lblue,red, and green she pushed onward and just as she was about to reach him Bellatrix Lestrange appeared between them in a flourish of smoke.

"He's dead girly!" Bellatrix laughed with hateful glee.

"See!?" she squealed as she rolled Harry's body with her dragon skin boots.

"Don't touch him you filthy hag!" Hermione screamed, her wand aimed at Bella's heart.

"Oooh, testy aren't we? I think you need another lesson in manners **Mudblood**." the older witch spat and before Hermione could shout the counter spell, she was flying through the air to land on her back 50 feet away.

Hermione gasped at the shooting pain that ran from her neck to the base of her spine. The fading cackle of Bellatrix invading her mind as she fought to roll over and fight back.

Hermione watched through tearful eyes to find Harry's body floating beside Bellatrix as she commanded the other death eaters to go after Hermione.

Panicked, Hermione scrambled for her wand as the death eaters began to close in. She didn't want to leave Harry's body behind, but she knew if she was caught now she wouldn't last long.

Especially with Bellatrix.

"I'm sorry Harry" she whispered as tears and blood trickled down her face.

She apparated to the sound of Bellatrix screaming in anger and could still hear the vile woman's voice echoing in her ears as she lay in a soggy bottomed meadow beyond the borders of the World Cup stadium grounds.

Hermione cried for weeks, maybe months. The never ending pain of loss eating away at her strength. Once Harry had fallen, the world became darker. The Wizarding world fell to Voldemort's feet and the Muggle world wallowed in turmoil.

Hermione was exiled. No one from the Order was left to take her in and anyone with sympathetic views to the rebellion, was stupid to take in a young woman with a price on her head.

She took to camping in forests and meadows throughout Europe. Settling for quite a while in the Netherlands until a close call with a Werewolf had her returning to England.

She spent several months wandering throughout rural England, finding small glens and meadows to search for shelter and the occasional mushroom and berries to fill her always empty stomach.

It had been almost two years since she had watched Harry murdered.(Something she had come to blame herself for). She was sitting on a rock beside a river, reading, when a woman across the river appeared with her young daughter. Hermione looked up and quickly grabbed her bag. Any interaction with people, no matter how short, was always too long. She dropped her book as she began to maneuver across the rocky riverbank.

"Look mummy! A girl!" she heard the little girl announce excitedly to her mother. Hermione cursed under her breath as she snatched her book from the wet rocks and glanced at the pair.

"Mummy! It's Hermione Granger! Look look mummy!"  
Hermione's eyes locked with the older woman's and she could see the guilt. That's when they heard it.

The cracks of apparition.

"No…" Hermione whispered.

Were they really that desperate?

Hermione bolted and soon enough she heard the pounding of footsteps behind her.

Her name was taboo.

She felt the magic of stunning spells fly past her and she threw them right back over her shoulder, listening as trees creaked and cracked as they took missed spells.

She jumped over a fallen tree trunk and hit the ground a little hard. Her leg aching she limped up and kept running as fast as she could.

Any energy left within her, was dwindling, and fast. She almost wanted them to catch her and end it now. She was just _so tired_.

She quickly hid behind a tree and watched as several men ran past her throwing spells far out beyond them. She waited just a few second before turning back the way she came in hopes of losing them.

Her hope was short lived as she turned to run straight into the hands of notorious snatcher Antioch Scabior.

"She's over here boys!" the filthy man shouted to his companions.

Hermione struggled in his iron grip. Kicking, biting, stomping, everything she could think of as realized her wand lay at their feet.

"Come come lovey, I really don't want to have to drug you. This is always so much more fun when they're awake." Scabior cooed with hatred into her ear.

She reared her head and met his front teeth with her skull.

He howled in pain and lost his grip around her. Hermione wiggled free and leaped for her wand only to fall to the ground from a stunning spell.

Everything was black. Her head felt heavy from the inside out. Like someone had filled it with cotton. She blinked her heavy eyelids open to more darkness.

Making to move, Hermione lolled her head to the side to see why she couldn't move her arms. They were free of chains but she hadn't the strength to lift them or her legs. Groaning at the sick feeling that was washing over her she watched from the corner of her eye a shadow move.

"So the mudblood princess is awake. Time for some fun 'eh?"

Hermione felt a rough hand grip her face and turn it to face Scabior's.

"You're worth a pretty Galleon girly, so don't worry, I won't hurt you….much." Hermione grimaced as tears fell from her eyes.

So this was it. Her demise was a long and painful one filled with rape and torture.

Hermione shut her eyes tight as Scabior growled and began to kiss her neck, biting and sucking her skin.

Hermione let out a sob as he reached for her chest until he was magically flung backwards. Did she do that?

"Get off her you filthy scum." A womans voiced ordered. Hermione couldn't see her momentary saviour but she wasn't sure if she was thankful for even more frightened now.

"She is worth _much_ more _untouched_."

"Yes My Lady" Scabior whimpered.

"Here, I've signed the contract, she is to be put on display no later than Thursday. Put her in a dress and put her to sleep. And do _not_ touch her. Understand?"

"Yes My Lady"

Hermione watched as a long slender arm reached across her to Scabior and handed him a parchment scroll. She couldn't see much else of the woman.

The woman spoke once more with a tone of disgust and pity,

"Welcome to the Slave Trade Miss Granger"

* * *

Thank You all for leaving comments and reviews! Just a reminder that this was never actually meant to be a full fic. I started this out as a Graphic post witha drabble on Tumblr and the demand for more turned into a mini series. I'm currently working on the next chapter/post so if you are interested in seeing the graphics that go with each post follow me on tumblr!

THANKS EVERYONE!


	5. Welcome To Redemption

I don't own anything

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It was a quarter after 9 and the rain was starting to beat harder against the windowpane. Draco stared out into the darkness that was the East Garden. Where was she?

He wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.

Two soft knocks met his impatient thought and he turned to face the door.

"Enter" he announced before bringing his glass of firewhiskey to his lips.

The door opened hesitantly to her standing nervously wringing her wrists in the hallway.

He hadn't realized just how sheer the nightgown he'd given Gilly to dress her in was.

He cleared his throat as he sipped his firewhiskey.

"I said enter"

She jumped at his voice and tripped forward as Gilly gave a little push to her legs from behind.

Once the pair were inside, Draco waved his wand, closing the door with a click.

"Good. Let's get started. Please sit." He motioned to the sitting area beside the fireplace.

She slowly inched towards the cushioned chairs, glancing at his canopied bed and taking the long way around the chairs to avoid going near it.

Merlin she was tense.

"Now," he began as she sat down gingerly across from him.

"…by law, the regulation and documentation of slaves is required in order to trade, sell, and pay for property and or more slaves. This requires the owner to inspect his property regularly for…._quality_." He crossed his foot onto his knee and folded his hands in his lap.

She refused to look up at him.

Finishing his firewhiskey, he handed his glass to Gilly with a pensive look on Hermione…

"Gilly, please arrange the trunk and curtain and maybe bring us some tea." Gilly bowed, her ears brushing the floor for the hundredth time.

The second the elf apparated, Draco stood and unbuttoned his blazer.

"Please stand and remove your nightgown." he instructed with a tone of exhaustion.

He began to roll up his sleeves as she bit her lip and stood on shaking legs. A moment later she stood before him, naked, again.

She bit her lip harder to stop it from quivering and her vision blurred as salty tears welled on her lower lashes.

The low roar of the fire the only sound between them as he approached her, undoing the top button of his shirt as his neck burned with heat.

With a gentle hand, he crooked a finger under her right wrist, lifting her arm to eye level.

He heard her breath hitch as he ran his fingertips from her fingers to her shoulder, brushing along her skin watching the goosebumps trail his touch.

He lowered her arm and moved to the left, raising it like the right. Eyeing her, he watched as two fat tear drops slid down her cheeks as she shut her eyes.

Stroking her arm softly, memorizing each blemish, each bruise, each scar from her youth.

He lowered her arm and walked behind her, collecting her curls in one hand as the other stroked her neck and shoulders. Lowering her hair, his hands slowly stroked down her back as he leaned forward over her shoulder,

"Breath Hermione" his voice barely above a whisper.

She let out a gasp after holding her breath for so long. Her gasps turning to sobs as he traced her hips, her thighs, her calves and ankles.

He stood up and walked to her front again, taking her face in his hands gently and watched as she tried to pull herself together. Her eyes finally opening and locking with his.

She sniffled as her chest heaved with each calming breath.

He wondered what she was thinking but his curiousity was met with more stray tears.

Using his thumbs, he wiped them away before nodding and letting go.

He cleared his throat "Very good."

There was a pop and Gilly reappeared with a tea tray.

"Tea Master Draco!" she announced and two pops followed, bringing with them a large trunk and a changing screen.

Draco rolled his sleeves back down as he walked to his desk.

"That trunk and it's contents are yours to have, Gilly will alter anything that doesn't fit you. Go through each item and try them on so she can do so. Now." He instructed without looking up from the paperwork on his desk.

Hermione sniffed and wiped her cheeks as she stepped behind the changing screen slowly. Gilly began handing her different dresses and slips to try on, adjusting and fitting here and there with her magic.

Draco scrawled his signature across multiple documents regarding her health and _quality_. Guilt was beginning to creep into his mind as he sealed them in an envelope. With a sigh he looked up to see her sillhouette sliding out of a floorlength slip.

He couldn't deny how perfectly shaped her body was. He'd always thought so. It was a shame she was so thin at the moment, but that wouldn't last long after a few meals.

Looking back down he addressed the envelope and lay down his quill to pour himself a healthy sampling of Ogden's Finest. He brought the glass to his lips but before he could bring the golden liqour to his lips there was a soft,

"Ahem."

Turning around, he found Hermione standing in the sitting area, a floor-length slip fitted with a corset clung to her frame.

Lowering his glass, he looked her up and down for several minutes until he realized she was blushing.

"Erm, Yes. Very nice. Very…yes." he said clearing his throat.

"Right then, " he muttered "tomorrow you will be moving into the East Wing. I have business to attend to during the day so the elves will be assisting you."

She nodded as she fiddled with a loose thread on her skirt.

"I will however require your company in the evening. 10 o'clock. I expect you to arrive here on time and without Gilly chaperoning you. Understood?"

She nodded "Yes Master." her voice weak.

"Good. Gilly will take your trunk back to your room for you. We both have long days tomorrow and I'm sure you want some rest. I will see you tomorrow evening." he concluded.

Giving him a small curtsy, Hermione headed for the door.

She turned the handle and opened the heavy wooden door when he spoke one last time,

"Granger…Sleep Well."

* * *

Two Updates in one day! Record Time!

comments are always loved!


	6. Welcome To The New Age

Draco brings home new property and Hermione learns her lesson the hard way.

* * *

She looked at the clock on the mantle again…another hour had passed. She felt exhausted. Tired of doing nothing and she was starting to have irksome thoughts of despair creep up in her mind. Like what if she just let herself fall asleep in the bath…or what might happen if she stopped eating her meals…

She wiped the stray tear rolling down her face and took a deep, cleansing breath. She had to accept the fact she was a slave. _His_ slave. But she was still Hermione Granger _damn it_.

Pulling her skirt up and tucking it to keep from tripping her, she began to sort through all her new clothes and hang them in the closet.

After returning to her room the previous evening, she had tried to analyze his behavior once more. This marked her third full day living under his control and he had yet to raise his voice, use magic against her besides silencing her the first night, and most importantly, had not _used_ her services of trade.

And as much as last night's _inspection_ was invasive and humiliating, she knew that it could have been completely different given different circumstances.

Reaching the bottom of the trunk, she stared down at the lingerie sets. She reached down and shut the lid of the trunk. _THUD_. Dragging the trunk across the room and putting it in the bottom of the closet.

Hopefully he wasn't too keen on her wearing them.

She looked around her new room and wondered who used to live here. It obviously hadn't been frequented in many years, but the books on the shelf were worn after several reads and the ensuite still had vintage beauty potions in the cupboards.

The one thing she found that she took a strange liking to was the old bottle of perfume hidden behind all the bath salts.

The light airy scent reminded her of gardenia's.

She placed it on the marble countertop beside the new and old beauty potions; daydreaming about who it once belonged to and why they left it behind.

Turning to the floor to ceiling window across the tiled room, Hermione set to removing the covers and pulling back the drapes. It felt good to break a sweat doing something other than running for once.

Coughing and waving away the dust, the fading afternoon light caught the tiny particles that danced all around her like fairies. If only they were fairies…

It took several good rattles and even some spit to force the window open, the cool autumn breeze flooding the room, cooling the sweat on her chest and neck.

She shut her eyes and let the breeze wash over her. Goosebumps rippling down her arms and legs as it soaked into her skin and bones. For a moment, everything was alright. Harry and Ron were in the other room arguing about Quidditch over a game of wizards chess. Crookshanks was curled up on the foot of the bed. Ginny was sprawled out beside her kneazle flipping through that month's Witch Weekly. All was well…

Hermione shivered. The magic almost making her nuaseas with her eyes closed. She opened them and looked out over the sprawling fields and gardens.

Emerging from the far edge of the outlying trees, two men appeared in procession of one another. Hermione strained her eyes and recognized the blonde hair of Malfoy as the second man. She watched them as the pushed their way through the tall grasses of the field. The other man, the dark skinned one was limping.

The unknown man tripped within in the tall grasses and scrambled to his feet to keep going. Hermione saw then that Malfoy's wand was drawn and pointed at the man's back. As if he was escorting a prisoner.

Another slave.

They were much closer now and she tried to identify the man, but his head remained hung and focused on the steps before him.

She shut the window as they approached the manor walls and she lost view.

Hermione quickly untucked her skirt and headed out into the hallway. They would be entering downstairs so she could spy from the upped banisters.

There were pros and cons to not being given shoes.

The cons in the long run outweighed the pros, but in that moment, she was thankful for the silence the smooth pads of her feet.

Nearing the staircase, Hermione gathered her skirt preventing any possible obstacles of absolute stealth.

She heard a door slam as she reached the third step down and she crouched beside the banisters. She wasn't hidden, but it was always safer to be closer to the ground when avoiding spells she reasoned.

Hermione bit her lip as a gasp surfaced. The other man fell through a doorway suddenly and lay on the stone floor bleeding. His clothes were filthy and torn. She watched as he tried to lift his head, which was facing away from her, and drop it back to the floor in exhaustion.

Malfoy entered and flicked his wand at the man's body. "Up" he commanded and the man pushed up on his arms and slowly stood, his body at an angle compensating for an injured leg.

"Walk" Malfoy flicked his wand and the two walked off down another corridor.

Hermione wasted no time in tiptoeing down the staircase and following after them.

Her heart was starting to beat faster as she crept past each door and she practically jumped out of her skin when a painful scream echoed from an ajar door. She pressed herself beside it and peered through.

There on the carpeted floor of what looked like a small study, the writhed and screamed in pain. His back arching against the hard floor and his hands clawing at it for relief.

Malfoy appeared then, flicking his wand, the man went limp as the pain ceased.

"Legilmens" he whispered and the two both grimaced as Malfoy entered the man's mind.

With a raspy voice, the man cried out "No! Noooo! Pleaseee No!"

Hermione watched, terrified, as Malfoy pulled back from his mind and scowled "Crucio" she heard him whisper and the man was sent screaming and clawing at the floor once more. Hermione looked away as his screams rang in her ears waiting for it to stop.

She hated herself for not being able to empathize with the poor man. For being treated differently. She wished she was in his place. The screams stopped and she heard Malfoy…

"Legilmens"

He was torturing information from the man.

Knocking down his walls with pain and suffering to make breaking in easier. She balled her hands into fists and fought hard to keep from storming in and pounding them on his chest and face.

The protesting shouts that had reconviened stopped and she hesitantly turned to look again when she heard nothing.

Hermione stared at Malfoy's back as he stood in front of the man on the floor, he seemed to be doing a tracking charm on him. She watched as he stepped away, massaging his temple when she heard her name…

"H-Hermione?" the voice rasped and her heart clenched when she looked to the man on the floor.

She pushed the door open in a panic "Dean!?" she cried as she stepped into the room

Malfoy looked over, his eyes suddenly fiery with rage.

Dean called out her name again when Malfoy flicked his wand, Hermione recognizing it as a stunning spell as he stormed across the room to her.

"YOU MONSTER!" she screamed at him, Dean's body now limp.

Draco gripped her by the neck and pushed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers to keep her from fighting.

She choked as she made to scream again and he spoke for her…

"_Quiet_" he hissed "screaming won't help him and it certainly won't make your punishment any less _unfortunate_."

She was quiet then.

So it began. She knew this façade would fall at some point. He could never be as kind as he seemed in the past few days.

Angry puffs of breath blew across her face as he neared closer, their eyes locked.

"You will return to your room…" his voice was eerily calm "…and _wait _until I arrive, we need to have a little…_discussion_. Do you understand?" his voice snapping at the end.

She nodded against the grip on her throat "Yes" she choked.  
He gripped harder "Yes _what_?"

"Y-yes…Ma-aster" she managed to choke out.

He released her suddenly and she fell to the floor in a heap. It only took moments for Gilly to appear, apparate her back to her room, and lock her in.

Minutes passed and then hours. The sun had set long ago and no evening meal was brought. The clock chimed midnight and she still was wide awake. And alone.

Had he forgotten her? Or was this her punishment?

Isolation.

She was curled up in one of the large cushion chairs beside the fire when he walked in unannounced.

She scrambled to her feet and stood behind the chair, watching as he locked the door and turned slowly to look at her.

"When I purchased you four days ago, I did the unthinkable Granger. .You.A._Favor._"

She didn't want to admit she was frightened, but her heartbeat and the slight quiver of her legs betrayed her. She had forgotten just how he really could be.

"I have provided you with a room, clothes, full meals…" he continued as he began to slowly walk across the room towards her.

"I have not bound you in chains or used Unforgivables against you. I have been _more_ than gracious and kind as a Master."

He was cornering her.

"So when you stick your nose into business that is not your own and then call me…what was it? C'mon now…what did you refer to me as Granger?"

He had her pinned against the wall, one hand caressing her shoulder while the other gripped her arm.

"A-a-a Monster" she breathed, her voice shaking.

"Yes, a _monster_." he said with a sneer.

"When I have just _saved_ that man's life and continue to shelter you. I am the _monster_."

She furrowed her brows as he neared his head to hers.

"Yes, _saved_. That man is considered….target practice….in the slave trade. And I did him the favor should he ever be traded."

His voice was like a knife gently sliding against her soul. Terrifyingly graceful but a step away from death.

She understood then what she had seen in the study downstairs.

Should Dean ever be traded off and his new Master search his mind, he would have nothing but altered memories of torture, pain, and suffering.

Malfoy had created memories from pain. He must have recognized the look of realization because he smirked and leaned his lips down to her ear, brushing them against her lobe as he spoke.

She shivered.

"Now what do you expect would happen if you were traded? Hmm? And had no memories of erotic pleasure to call upon?"

Hermione froze, her stomach dropped and her breath caught audibly.

"Exactly…" he breathed.

He pulled away from her then, walking across the room to her closet. She felt cold suddenly and she wrapped her sore arms around herself.

He began to pull out several of the more revealing dresses he had given her and she watched as he, without skipping a beat, reached for the trunk full of lingerie, grabbing every single set.

"You will be spending the evening in my apartments, come gather these up and follow me." His voice was much more calming and civil than it had been mere seconds ago.

She did as she was told, her heart beating so hard she could hear it pounding in her head.

They reached his door much more quickly than she had expected, but maybe that was because her mind was racing.

He locked the door behind them and took the clothes from her arms,

"Take off your dress and lie on the bed, please."

She turned to his bed, hiding the tears she still managed to produce.

She sat on the edge and began undoing her corset until it was loose enough to pull over her head.

Hermione heard him moving around the room behind her and as she pulled the sleeves down of her slip it was silent.

Looking over her shoulder, she made eye contact with him.

"Breath Hermione" he whispered.

She felt calm.


	7. Welcome To The Afterglow

The sheet was curled into her fist, her toes pointed so hard she began to feel her leg cramping, but none of it mattered. There was a gasp, a bright light, a pinch at her breast, and everything was oblivion.

Hermione opened her eyes for the third time to see him sleeping soundlessly beside her. His chest practically hairless apart from the light peach fuzz that dusted along the surface. She didn't know what was real anymore. So many scenarios had come and gone in her dreams, she couldn't recognize the truth from the altered memories. The only memory she was certain wasn't altered…was the beginning.

* * *

"Breath Hermione" he whispered.

She felt calm.

He used her name, and it was almost like a comfort blanket was being handed to her thread by thread. She should be disgusted and hate him for using her name like this, but with the slight reassuring comfort that it brought, she accepted his words.

Denying the only comfort she found would make this situation worse. Instead, she used it to her advantage, took a deep breath and let the nightgown slip down over her shoulders and down her thinned curves.

This was hardly the first time she'd been naked before him, but this time was much, _much_ different.

He was staring at her. Not her body, but her eyes and she looked down in shame.

If only their younger selves knew what horrors they would live through. She bit her lip and looked up at the sound of him clearing his throat.

He gestured to the bed as he unbuttoned his waistcoat and dress-shirt.

In a self-conscious blur she made her way onto the bed, leaning back against his pillows, her ashen legs standing out against the midnight blue duvet beneath her.

She looked up to see his shirt and waistcoat hanging over the back of his desk chair, his hands busy unbuckling his trousers and while he crossed his feet and casually kicked off his shoes.

It was a simple action that lost Hermione for a brief moment.

The casualness he emitted in pressing his toes against one heel and then the other. It made him seem a little more…_human_.

Hermione's brief oasis of wandering thoughts was ripped from her as a swift movement caught her eye and she caught her gasp too late. She looked to the canopy above her feeling her heartbeat finally catch up with her racing thoughts.

He was naked. She was naked. This was happening.

Hermione felt the bed shift beside her and in the panic that was beginning to overtake her she refused to look at him.

She felt him draw a finger down her shoulder and circle his hand around her elbow gently, cupping it.

"Look at me…" he whispered.

She could feel his body heat radiating against her side and wasn't sure if it was a sensation that made her feel cocooned or her space invaded.

"Look at me please…" he repeated.

With a shaky breath she turned her head to meet his gaze.

Her heartbeat was in her throat and she took to breathing little puffs of breath from her mouth.

"I swear to you now, that after tonight I will never again impose, request, or force you to my bed. This is for your safety as it is mine… and…. I think, for the purpose this all serves, it would be easiest if you were…._allowing_ of tonight."

He was searching her face, his eyes moving across her features like she was a page of a book.

"Do you understand?" he could be quiet calming even in the most tense of situations, she had learned that already.

With a weak nod, Hermione shut her eyes and accept the fact that he was more than right. If they wanted the altered memories to be believable then the real one's had to be vivid.

Slowly, she rolled onto her side to face him, his hand falling away from her elbow, resting in the space between them.

**_Be Allowing_**

She could feel every heartbeat pound in her chest; every second that ticked by was amplified by their synchronizing breaths.

It seemed like hours of lying beside him, the scent of his hair radiating from his pillows. The gentle puffs of air from his nose tickling her cheeks as he breathed calmly.

Ten minutes must have passed since she rolled onto her side, but the second hand on the clock hadn't even moved a full minute.

He opened his mouth to say something when she leaned through the last few inches of space between them, brushing her lips against his.

The disgusted feeling in her stomach was churning with butterflies.

**_Be Allowing_**

She hadn't kissed or been kissed in over two years.

Not a single caress, loving hug, and peck on the cheek for nearly 720 days.

Goosebumps shivered down her back as his lips leaned into hers and they discovered each other with the gentlest of touches and strokes.

Her hand tucked into the crook of his neck between his shoulder and his jaw. Her fingers tracing the lines his skin made as his neck bent to meet her lips.

His much larger and roughened hand slid against her hip bone and rested happily there for several minutes until she inched closer, her hand wrapping into his hair.

She missed kissing or maybe it was the nerve endings in her lips getting the better of her head.

**_Be Allowing_**

Either way, as much as she regretted to admit it, she was enjoying herself.

Malfoy's hand reached around to the small of her back, pulling her against his body with ease.

She gasped into his mouth, her lip quivering between his. He opened his eyes and whispered

"Breathe"

The word took a moment to penetrate her fear and then she took a deep breath.

The feeling of his solid erection pressed between their bodies became just another new sensation as he continued to kiss her.

His hand stirred and slowly stroked up and down her spine, making her shiver into him.

She curled her fingers around the short, fine hair behind his ear as he traced her bum and then back to her hip.

Without thinking, Hermione tried to press herself closer against him only to stop short as he let out soft moan against her lips.

She felt his hand on her hip grip tightly for a brief moment and she remembered.

His erection pulsed against her stomach at the friction and with one last

**_Be Allowing_**

She wiggled her hips a little harder and kissed him like she used to kiss Ron they were alone in the tent.

Her lips gently parted as he moaned once more, deeper and longer as she continued to wiggle her hips.

His tongue took the cue without skipping a beat, melting with hers while he held her hip tighter as she continued to roll her hips against his.

Her head cloudy with the euphoria of physical interaction and lust, Hermione hadn't noticed the pressure on her hip ceasing until a single stroke of wet heat between her legs made her eyes pop open with a gasp that instantly was mistaken for a moan.

Pulling her hand from his hair to rest on his chest, her nails scratched his skin lightly as they balled into a fist.

He was stroking her clit with feather light movements and with every soft brush came a quiver to her legs.

She was panting against his lips, her lids now heavy with the weight of arousal.

Hermione rolled her hips against his teasing touch and bit her lip as another feminine moan bubbled in her throat.

He let her roll her hips against his hand, watching her face closely as his fingertips met her opening.

She froze.

What was she doing?

She was _humping_ his hand!

The sick feeling in her stomach returned with revenge and she bit her tongue at urge to gag.

She felt a warm breath puff against the curve of her ear and another thread of the metaphorical comfort blanket was presented,

"Breath"

She inhaled slowly.

Taking in the scent of his hair again, the light musk of her arousal and what could only be described as lust.

She held her breath, frozen in time for a few brief seconds before letting her breath go.

She was on her back in a flash, his weight balanced on his arms beside her.

Malfoy's lips were at her neck, pecking, nipping, stroking her skin with such care and definition.

It was like he was writing a secret into her skin with his lips and Hermione was desperate to know what it was.

With great hesitation, she brought her hands to his flexing arms gently resting her palms at his shoulders.

Hermione tried to find what her mother used to call 'A Happy Place', someplace she could hide away in her mind and let things happen around her, but with Malfoy's insistent nips traveling down her neck and to her breast she couldn't focus through the fuzzy feeling in her head and stomach to find one.

His lips were puckered around her nipple and while she should have been horrified or embarrassed by it, her body reacted before her mind.

Her hands tightening on his arms and her back arching, pressing herself closer.

Reading her body language, he lowered his body against hers and they both moaned softly as the base of his erection pressed against her fleshy clit.

A soft feminine sigh passed through Hermione's lips as he rolled his hips slowly against her mons and whilst fighting the urge to let her nerves shut her down once again, she took a risk.

"I'm ready" she breathed so quietly she barely heard her own voice over their breathing and the rustling of bed sheets.

He released her nipple, looking up to her face, a question in his eyes.

With a gentle roll of her hips, he had his answer.

He sat up and leaned back on his heels, his hands sliding down her slimmed curves.

Hermione watched him take in her figure inch by inch and she wondered if he was having as much difficulty as she was with detaching himself from the situation mentally.

She wondered if this was all a ploy just to get her to his bed without having to "request" it.

She wondered if he was secretly sick to his stomach having to touch her again.

She even toyed with the idea that he was being genuine… from the consideration of her virginity to her comfort.

Hermione had let those thoughts run through her mind throughout the evening and as she reviewed them in her head, he leaned down to place a kiss at the corner of her mouth.

She looked into his steely gray eyes and could feel the slick rounded head of his arousal press against her opening.

Before he could utter the word, Hermione took a deep breath and at the release she felt the heavy pressure of being stretched. At first it was an awful pain, like flesh was tearing away, but then it quickly became something else.

He pulled away and then pushed his hips deeper, releasing his breath against her neck below her jaw.

Hermione slid her arms around his shoulders, pressing his body against hers. Her breasts pressed against his chest while he continued to stretch her slowly.

After the gentle pains of tightness faded into relaxed pulses Hermione counted in her head the slow rhythm he was conducting. She waited a few moments, still allowing her body to relax around him, and then met his hips with hers, pushing him all in.

They both cried out at the simple motion.

Malfoy reached down and held her hips against his, breathing against her neck in puffs of warm wet air.

Hermione could feel every inch of her core and every inch of him.

The deepest point brushing against his tip.

And while the pain never ceased it was continually overshadowed by a burning pleasure that radiated from her hips to her toes and then spiraled up her back to her neck.

"More" her voice vibrating through her throat into his lips.

Releasing his grip on her hip, he pulled out smoothly and began to set a faster rhythm.

Their hips meeting faster and faster, the gentle sounds of skin meeting becoming rough and harmonized with their breathy moans.

Hermione's brow furrowed as the pace quickened. The pain was tightening but the pleasure was building right along with it. It was a frustrating effect that had her even more desperate for the finish line.

Her body couldn't keep still beneath his and as she lifted her leg, she felt his hand brush along her bum and then down her thigh, caressing her just beneath the knee. He pushed it a little higher until she could practically kiss her knee, holding it there as he snapped his hips even faster.

Hermione reached her hands into her hair, pulling and tugging in frustration all the while moaning as the pleasure continued to flood her body. The pain was dull and pulsed through her angrily, but the equally as heavy pleasure focused in one spot and it was like a shining light. A ball of light and energy pulsing with each powerful thrust he gave.

His breathes were forced through bared teeth and grunts, the muscles in his body flexing and extending as his hips ground into hers. Her weightless leg and developed a weight with each snap his hips made and his arms were beginning burn.

Hermione looked up at him from hooded eyelids as he growled and sat up, taking both her legs and bringing her ankles to his shoulders.

She opened her eyes a little wider at this development, what was he- _ ._

Hermione turned to faith from that point on.

The grip he took to her thighs as he snapped even faster thrusts against her feeling her already tight walls tighten around him.

"_Oh God…"_ she moaned.

She had nothing to hold onto.

Nothing to reach for to ride out the pain and pleasure tearing through her core with such fierceness she thought she might cry.

"_Oooh GOD!" _she cried, her hands back in her hair, pulling through her curls inwhat she now knew was the exact definition of sexual frustration.

The thrusts were so close together the slapping of skin became one noise amidst the moans, cries, growls and pleas that filled the room.

Then, from the depths of her core, Hermione broke out into short heavy breaths. The pain making way for something more powerful. Her pleasure building with each short, desperate breath for air and it made her body shake against his.

She felt his hand leave her thigh and a soft pressure at her clit teased as the thrusts peaked and then it hit her.

She screamed.

Her head thrown against the lopsided pillow, her hands fisted around the silky duvet and her eyes shut as she basked in the bright white light beneath her lids.

Her voice now faded was replaced with his as he let out a series of shouts and swears as he filled her tightened channel with semen.

The next few moments became a blur to Hermione.

She was beneath him, their breaths brushing against each other's skin.

Hermione felt him remove himself from her and she felt cold and hallow. She almost wished it back, but as the awkwardness set in she began to keep her thoughts in check.

Hoping to just roll over and let the moment pass, she was rudely reminded of what the purpose of this had been.

His wand at her temple as he pressed her body down again.

"Shut your eyes…" he breathed.

His cheeks were flushed and he was still out of breath.

She wasn't sure but his eyes looked positively brighter…younger.

"Shut them…" his voice calmer than a midnight sea.

And she obeyed.

Hermione shut her eyes.

* * *

She refused to open them, she refused to look down at him watching her.

But as she picked up the pace and his breathing became heavier and his voice got deeper with each hushed moan, Hermione became curious.

She opened them just barely and bit her lip at the site of him, head lolled to the side and eyes shut in mutual sexual frustration she thought.

Hermione continued to roll her hips, her thighs burning with the repetitive motion, but she kept at it if it meant his eyes stayed shut.

The sweat that covered her body in a thin layer made her shiver and lose her balance. Pressing her open palms against his chest she rolled her hips faster.

She had been staring at the carved wooden headboard when she felt the pinch at her breast and clawed her hands against his skin.

Looking down to find him mesmerized with her bouncing breasts, pinching and rolling her nipples in a way that she could easily describe as sinfully perfect.

Merlin what was he doing to her?

* * *

Hermione sighed as a pair of lips pressed themselves to hers.

The lips traveling to her neck and collar bones.

"Is this a dream?" she whispered in her sleep.

The lips responded with a hushed "Yes" and she happily let it overcome her.

Making their way through the shallow valley between her breasts and down her abdomen to her hip bones, Hermione sighed happily at the gentle touches and caresses the dream allowed her.

And just as she was about to fall deeper into sleep, she let out a breathy gasp and her back arched as the lips traveled between her thighs and greeted her mound with a warm wet kiss.

Her girlish sighs and coos continued as Malfoy delved into her womanhood and he let her _dream_ on.

* * *

Warmth. She awoke to the warmth of sunrays beaming through the window and bathing her legs and stomach in rich autumn sunlight.

Her body ached as she tried to move and so she stayed motionless beneath the friendly rays of sun. The bed was a mess of tangled sheets and rumpled pillows.

Most importantly, she was alone in the mess of sheets and pillows. Glancing around the room she didn't find him.

She yawned and felt sleep claiming her once more. She obliged to her body's needs and let her eyelids bathe beneath the sunlight that now stretched across her body.

The Afterglow.


	8. Welcome To The Suffering

Hermione watched as the smear of blood on her finger tips turned to swirls of pink in the bath water. She had never been more grateful for her monthly cycle to appear.

It had been two weeks since that night and each day since she was remembering more and more scenarios that had happened.

Or…_might_ have happened.

After waking in his bed still naked and alone, Hermione had taken one of his bath robes and run back to her apartments, her body aching and her stomach churning with hatred.

The following days she did not leave her room. Refusing to eat meals and spend her afternoons crying till she fell asleep again.

It was the fifth day when her meals stopped arriving, to be neglected. That was when she gathered the strength to get dressed and wander to the kitchens.

Several times she had attempted to make contact with Dean, but each time _he _was there.

Whether he had charmed boundaries around Dean's room or walked passed with a steely stare, Hermione would scurry off back to her room, her heart pounding in her throat and her eyes full of tears.

She could barely handle the idea of being in the same room with him, let alone have him reprimand her for disobeying his rules.

But she and Dean managed to share a few smiles between the supervised moments.

But she still worried greatly for him.

Each day, Hermione would watch from the ballroom windows on the upper floor as Malfoy would lead Dean to the woods just beyond the meadow. It would be at least 3 hours until they would reappear, Dean covered in blood and limping and Malfoy behind him with his wand pointed at Dean.

Hermione had rushed down to the stairs when they entered from their first day out. Her anger, fear, and hatred bubbling to the surface. Tears streamed down her cheeks as Dean limped through the foyer with bloody footsteps. Her hands white-knuckled around the banister as Malfoy entered shortly after. She wanted to scream. To scream and kick and claw at him until he hurt worse than Dean. He looked to her slowly. The dark circles under his eyes accentuated by how unusually pale he was. Without so much as a sneer, he turned and followed after Dean.

She sat and cried on the stairs until she felt sleep creep up on her.

After the first few days, she would leave the window in the ballroom and occupy herself until she would make her way to the stair case and watch them from above. Dean was always bloody. Always. And Malfoy always gave her that sick tired look, like he was hurting too.

Hermione reached between her legs again and washed away the blood. It didn't hurt as much as always. She had a suspicion it had to do with that night and what it did to her body. She rubbed away the blood from her hands in the lukewarm water and once the ribbons of pink melted away she stood up and let the water drip from her skin.

Gilly had left her shift and a maroon button corset dress hanging on the changing screen.

She liked this one the best. It was the simplest of her dresses, but still made her feel pretty. Something she had not thought of herself in a very long time.

Tying her hair up into a damp knot, she shifted the neckline of her simple gown and finished buttoning it as she made her way into her bedroom. It was six o'clock when she heard the entry downstairs slam.

They were early.

Picking up her skirt, she jogged to the staircase to catch a glimpse of Dean. If he was walking on his own, it was a good day. Hermione hated to miss her brief sighting of her good friend.

As she reached the staircase hurriedly leaning over the bannister to see her friend and their captor she was welcomed with a very different, very…_dangerous_ surprise.

The men looked up from their conversation to see her damp hair had fallen from its knot and was draped across her shoulders.

Her chest heaving with each heavy breath she took from her sprint across the East Wing.

"Well well well!" The one on the right called out first.

"Looks like Malfoy scored himself the Mudblood bitch from Gryffindor as a cock-slave!" her heart rate jumped as she recognized him as Marcus Flint.

"I heard she was a closet nympho back at Hogwarts." The man behind Marcus commented.

Hermione's stomach was churning as Theodore Knott spoke up.

"Wonder if Malfoy's got her trained up nicely…" Vincent Crabbe commented quietly amongst the center of the group.

"Boys, I think it's time Malfoy learns to share his toys with others." Gregory Goyle announced with a certain authority.

Hermione could feel the last breath the tried to take stop short in her throat.

The four men all narrowed their eyes on her…and the chase began.

She was picking up her skirts and tripping up the small set of level stairs into the hallway as the sound of thundering footsteps echoed up the marble stairs.

She had started to head for her room, until she remembered that that hallway was a dead end and it would only be a matter of time until they burst into her room.

With a glance behind her, she ducked into the dusty unused study that Malfoy liked to pace in. She ducked behind the old wooden desk trying to hold her breath as several footsteps thundered past the study. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as the door opened and a voice called out right above her.

"Come out puppet. We just want to playyy" the sing song voice of Marcus Flint floated right past her and through another office door that lead to the library. As soon as the door shut behind him, Hermione crawled from her spot and ran through another door that led towards the ballroom.

If she got across the ballroom to the stairs again she could hide downstairs.

Glancing around the silent hall, she began a slow run across the marbled floor until she heard a deep satisfied voice whisper

"Gotch'ya"

Hermione felt her skirts slip beneath her toes and she fell hard against the floor. She could feel her heart pounding wildly as she tried to scramble to her feet and keep running.

There was a harsh grip on her ankle that gave a sharp tug and her face met with the floor.

Crying out as she kicked against the hand, Hermione began to panic.

"Little whore likes a game of hide and seek before she dances with her masters." Greg Goyle cooed into her ear as he pinned her to the ground with his body weight.

"You are _not_ my master you filthy maggot!" she growled as he rolled her onto her back and back handed her across the face.

"Draco obviously hasn't gotten round to house training you yet, _mudblood_. That was a warning, the next time I won't be so kind." Goyle sneered at her as the rest of his companions arrived.

Hermione held her hands to her cheek and whimpered as she glanced up the four sneering looks of disgust and desire leering over her.

"Crabbe, Theo, hold her arms down. Flint, push up her skirts. We'll do this one at a time until she learns how to respect her masters." Goyle instructed the gang.

Hermione began to scramble back against the marble floor as the two men came from behind and held down her arms with such a force, she thought they might snap.

Her insides were pounding with fear as she watched Flint reach for her skirts and that's when she let out what had been building inside of her for weeks.

The scream was shattering.

It made every fiber of her body tense and shake with power. Her back arched as she emptied her lungs of anger and fear and all the terror she was filled with.

It echoed off the walls, the windows, and down the hallways. She prayed it reached the ears of someone forgiving upon her. Anyone who cared enough to stop them. To save her. Gilly. Dean. _Anyone._

Hermione continued to scream and kick wildly as Flint pushed up her skirt, his eyes squinting as her scream penetrated his skull.

She felt a calloused hand press over her mouth as Goyle began to unbutton his trousers and stroke her inner thigh.

"Hush now mudblood, let your masters teach you a lesson." He cooed and the group snickered.

Hermione whipped her head from the hand and screamed as she felt his weight shift against hers…and then suddenly he was gone.

They were all gone.

The smell of magic heavy in the air.

She opened her eyes slowly and saw Draco standing over her, pointing his wand across the ballroom.

"Fortunately, Goyle, _none _of you are her master. Which makes this little lesson quite useless. Not that it wasn't already useless with the size of your dicks anyway."

His voice was calm and steady as he knelt down and reached for her skirts.

She flinched at the movement.

Slowly he took the hem of her skirts and pulled it down her legs, making her decent. The tears in her eyes blurring her vision, just enough that the hand he extended to her was almost too blurry to grab.

Helping her up slowly, she looked across the room to see the four men all scattered across the floor, rubbing various limbs and joints.

She stood behind him, leaning against his back for support as she peered around to her attackers.

"We were only teaching her what you failed to." Goyle spat as he nursed his elbow with great care.

"As I recall, Goyle, you lost the last _two_ bed-maids to your father who gave you bastard brothers. I really doubt your skills in _educating_ these women on pureblood etiquette are trustworthy."

The other men snickered and Draco straightened his wand.

Silence.

"I'm sure all of your father's would be so proud to hear you lost your bed maids to Antonin Dolohov in last week's wizard's chess pool."

They all lost the color from their faces.

Hermione gripped his cloak and leaned her head into the crook of his shoulder and arm.

"That mublood whore needs to be taught a lesson Draco. From you or one of us, she needs to learn how to properly speak to her superiors." Goyle said in a strained voice as he stood.

"I will discipline her as soon as you leave. I wouldn't want to give away my best secrets when it comes to training my slaves, now would I?"

The rest of the men stood slowly and held their ground.

"I refuse to leave until you punish her. Now." Goyle was not joking. And neither were Flint, Knott, or Crabbe.

There was a heavy silence between them all while Draco thought.

"Fine." He said, lowering his wand.

"She will lose the greatest gift I've given her…her friend."

Hermione gasped and tried to look around into his face.

The men looked curiously at this and Draco elaborated quickly.

"You may take my target practice. He is of good sport and health. You may take him to share. She obviously has lost the privilege to be social with others until she can learn to behave. My apologies gentlemen."

Hermione was clawing at his cloak and into his skin as he spoke.

He couldn't do this to her. Not to Dean. They would surely kill him within minutes.

She was sobbing and pounding against his body as continued to speak.

"You will find him in the spare room in the lower level beside the smoking room. Take him on your way out." He gave a curt nod and turned to lead a hysteric Hermione back to her room. As he held her in his arms as the turned he noticed the welt blooming on her cheek.

With a firm grip he stilled her against his body with his arm and turned back to the men,

"One more thing Goyle, the next time you damage my property in any way. Physical or emotional… do not expect me to be as _forgiving_ next time."

Hermione had never seen him be so cold or threatening before. It scared her. But it also made her curious.

Draco turned with Hermione in his arms and he walked her back to her room without a fight.

He watched her closely. The way she stared at the fire in the hearth, it was a glazed look of fear and exhaustion. He watched as she slowly began unbuttoning her dress and then became frantic, ripping the buttons apart and pushing it and her shift from her frame until she was naked in front of the fire.

Draco watched her as she picked up her favorite gown and threw it into the heart, the flames swallowing it up angrily and licking at her fingertips as she threw in the shift as well.

There was a faint slam of a door and she looked to the window. Hermione made her way to the window and stood looking out over the garden.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, swollen and not.

She watched as Dean ran across the meadow and into the wood followed by the yips and cheers of the four demented death eaters.

Hermione gripped the curtains and leaned her forehead against the glass.

Dean disappeared into the wood.

"I hate you" she whispered through her tears.

Draco nodded.


	9. Welcome To The Nightmares

_He flinched as he swam from one dream to the next. The sight of her writhing on the floor of North Wing dining hall. Her screams were much more distant as he watched from above her. Like her voice was an echo of the original pleas for mercy. Then suddenly he was above her, the memory of her in his bed just a few weeks passed. Moaning and sighing against his body. He looked her in the eye from above and watched as the look of pleasure morphed to pain and terror. Her moans turning to whimpers and cries as he lay on top of her. There was a flash of light and a scream of terror…_

Draco's eyes were wide as he pushed himself off his mattress. Heart pounding in his chest, gulping for deep breaths of air.

What was that?

He jumped as a loud clap of thunder rolled over the manor, echoing through the East Wing walls.

Draco sighed in relief and collapsed back into the comfort of his pillows.

Thunderstorms usually made him quite calm. The subtle irony they had and how they made him feel comparatively in control of his life.

Perhaps not so comparatively after recent events.

Since he gave his so called _friends_ Dean as a peace offering, she refused to come anywhere near him. Keeping her distance when passing him in the corridors and responding to his questions with steely stares at the floor and curt nods.

He had never in a million years imagined Granger to maintain the silent treatment with such dedication.

Then again, she had plenty of fuel to burn her fire.

There had been those brief moments after his training with Dean when they would make eye contact and in his exhaustion, give a half-hearted attempt to cover his apologetic look.

She always had a look of contempt in return, but there were subtle glances of confusion… or was it curiosity?

Draco's head felt heavier as sleep claimed him back to the depths of his dreams.

_Memories of Dean running. Running beside him. Every now and again jumping over a fallen tree branch. Their breathing the only sound. The crackle of twigs and leaves beneath their feet silenced. The flash of light from Draco's wand and then a scream as Dean fell. His eyes lifeless as he lands in the leaves and mud._

Draco is awake again.

Another ferocious clap of thunder rumbling through the Manor.

With a growl of frustration, Draco rolled onto his back and kicked off his sheet.

The headaches and exhaustion that came with a restless nights' sleep was infuriating. He would be damned if it was all from a bloody thunderstorm.

Falling back into his pillows, the room lit up with a flash of lightening followed by the slam of his bedroom door opening.

Reaching for his wand in an instant, he was aiming for the figure standing in his doorway within seconds.

"Granger?" he asked in a deep groggy sleep voice.

Another flash of lightening and he could see her eyes were dark and her cheeks wet. She flinched in the light and her body tensed.

Granger? Afraid of a thunderstorm? _Pathetic_ he thought to himself.

Lowering his wand he watched as she stayed frozen in his doorway, completely unaware he was lying about in nothing but a pair of briefs.

In the darkness of the room, his eyes adjusted to her petite figure in her short silk nighty.

"What are you-"A massive thunderclap interrupted him, rattling the windows with a force unlike the others. A whimper sounding from the doorway and he watched her jump.

What did she want him to do? A silencing charm that big was impossible with his exhaustion. He watched as she shifted her feet, inching closer.

What Draco did next, he would later blame on being sleep deprived.

Sighing, he reached for the sheet and heavy down comforter at the foot of his bed.

"C'mon Granger" his deep voice rattling in his chest.

It took her a few moments to accept the invitation, but as another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky she was beside the bed before the light faded.

Propped up on an elbow, Draco rubbed his tired eyes and looked up at her eyeing the bed suspiciously.

"Get in or get out Granger. I'm in no mood for games tonight." There was little room for 'Please's and 'Thank You's' when it came to her. And even less in the middle of the night.

Slowly, she pulled back the covers and lied down as close to the edge of the bed as she could. He watched as she delicately curled herself up into a ball, her arm caressing the pillow as she nestled her head into it.

Draco would have been relieved as she stopped squirming had it not been for the fact she had decided to _face_ him.

Grumbling to himself, Draco fluffed his pillows aggressively and flopped back down into them, his face turned away from her as he lay on his stomach.

And with that, Draco went back to sleep. There were no cozy good night wishes and close cuddles. She would sleep in his bed tonight. For whatever sort of comfort it brought her and that was it.

He nodded to himself and soon after he shut his eyes sleep took him once again.

_He heard them laugh. Their dark sick laughs. The ones they used when they were entertained. Then a scream. A painful, aching, scream that made his skin crawl and his bones ache. He was running. The only sound was that scream that made his heart pound. He grew closer and the scream became begging. "Please! NO! NO STOP PLEASE! HELP! HELP! PLEASE STOP!"_

"NO! NO! NO! STOP! NO!"

Her voice was strained like she was being choked or had screamed it raw.

Draco's eyelids were heavy as he opened them to see Hermione flinching and crying out in her sleep.

"NO! PLEASE NO!" she begged.

"Granger" he whispered with his deep voice.

"NO!" she rasped again.

Granger" he whispered more forcefully.

"PLEASE!" her voice desperate.

"Granger" he said loudly, shaking her arm.

She awoke with panic in her eyes and pushed away from him only to fall right off the edge of the bed with a thump to the wood floor.

"Granger?" Draco whipped his blankets off, jumping out of bed to run to the other side.

She was leaning against the bed, her eyes full of tears as she held her foot where she must have hit it.

Draco crouched in front of her.

This was a strange and new experience for him. He had done so much to make her comfortable in an uncomfortable arrangement and yet he didn't know how to provide her with basic human interaction other than sex.

"They wanted to hurt me." She rasped through her tears.

"Yes, but they didn't." his voice quiet. So that's what the nightmare was about.

"They were going to-to-to _rape_ me." She sobbed through her words.

"Yes and then I stopped them." He reached forward and adjusted the silk strap of her nighty that had slipped off her shoulder.

"An-an-and then you g-g-ave them Deaaan" she cried harder.

Draco looked at the floor and nodded.

"Yes, I gave them Thomas."

"I h-hate you." She cried a bit softer at this and Draco nodded.

"I know." He whispered to himself.

_If only she knew_.

Slowly, he reached out and picked her up in arms, putting her back in bed, further towards the center.

Another clap of thunder rolled and she whimpered through her sniffles.

"You're sleeping next to me. No more falling off the bed nonsense." He informed her as he crawled back in bed after adjusting his briefs.

She squirmed as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against his body.

It didn't take long for their shared body heat to calm her and ease into his grip.

Draco was just a few blinks away from sleep when her raspy voice breathed softly into the air.

"I hate you." The conviction behind her voice lost to exhaustion.

He nodded into his pillow and held her closer.

"Go to sleep Granger."

And both fell into a deep _dreamless_ sleep.


	10. Welcome To Reality

Credit to JKROWLING  
Au: Inspection day makes everyone nervous.

* * *

It had been nearly two months since her arrival at Malfoy Manor and exactly two weeks since her mistake of running to Malfoy's room during the thunder storm. They had awoken in each-other's arms, his hand tucked between her thighs and to the sound of a soft moan. Neither wanted to take responsibility of what had happened, but when they woke up Hermione practically flew from the bed and ran to her room.

The two weeks since had been filled with awkward passes in the corridors and short toned conversation.

There was one evening in which Blaise Zabini was to visit the East Wing for dinner. She was very content with taking her meals in her room so this wasn't to be much of an issue until he _requested_ her presence for the evening.

She always hated it when he used the word "request". They both knew that she had no choice in the matter of going or not. It was clearly of pseudonym for "_you __**will**__ do as I say and you __**will not **__argue about it"._

As _requested _she was waiting in the drawing room when Zabini arrived; silently standing behind Malfoy as he welcomed him _and_ _his bed maid_.

The girl could not have been much younger than herself. She looked vaguely familiar, but no one she could pick out a crowd straight away.

Her normal silence during meals was only accompanied by the residual silence of the guest slave sitting opposite her.

Hermione only acknowledged the girl once. Her mind too concerned with what the two death eaters had in mind for dessert.

It didn't take long after the plates were cleared that Hermione was dismissed to her room and the men took to the lounge for drinks. What became of the bed maid, Hermione did not know and she hated to admit that she did not care either.

Creating attachment would only lead to more suffering and she was sure Malfoy was taunting her with this guest.

* * *

Since that night Hermione had spoken very little to her master and seen even less of him.

Her lonely hours spent trying to create conversation with Gilly or losing herself amongst the dark thoughts that had plagued her since arriving.

Gilly insisted on washing her hair for the first time since she arrived and Hermione didn't have the passion and fire within her to argue with the floppy-eared elf.

The days were growing colder and darker. The rain never seemed to stop and the warming charms were never warm enough.

Winter was coming.

Lolling her head against the side of the tub, Hermione looked at her array of unused beauty products. The small glass bottle of perfume hiding behind a bottle of lavender skin cream.

"Miss Hermione can rinse her hair now!" Gilly exclaimed happily while she began cleaning her hands with magic.

Hermione looked up behind her. Gilly pushed up a chair against the high end of the tub so she could reach Hermione's hair.

Hermione watched as the soap suds vanished and she longed for the sensation of magic to leave her fingertips once more.

With a sad smile, she nodded and slipped beneath the clean warm water.

She felt like a bird with clipped wings in this cage made of marble.

Was she even a witch anymore if she didn't practice magic? Her identity was slipping away from her and she had no way of holding on to it.

With a stray tear seeping into the bath water, she stood up and let Gilly wrap her up in a towel and dry her hair.

There was a sudden chill that took her body and she shivered as if the towel had been stripped from her. It only took her a moment to realize that all her body hair was gone and she looked at Gilly with great surprise.

"Gilly, did you just use a hair removal charm on me?" the usually quiet elf had been very keen to help her this evening.

The elf was silent as she looked at the wet tiles her ears brushed against.

"Gilly…did Master ask you to do that?" Hermione asked quietly as she kneeled down to eye level with the elf.

Gilly hid behind her oversized ears and whimpered.

"Gilly…has mastered _requested_ you bathe me tonight?"

The elf looked up suddenly with tears in her eyes and sobbed

"GILLY HAS FAILED MASTER! MISS WASN'T TO KNOW! MISS WASN'T TO KNOW OF INSPECTION! MISS WAS SUPPOSED TO IGNORE GILLY!"

Hermione sat wide-eyed.

_Another inspection?_

Biting her lip, she took Gilly's hand and gently squeezed.

"It's alright Gilly, I knew…I- I- I just forgot." Giving a weak smile.

The elf's teary eyes opened "Miss knew?"

Hermione nodded, no need to worry the poor creature, "Yes, I completely forgot. Thank you for helping me, I think I can get ready by myself now."

It took a few minutes for the elf to concede and allow Hermione the privacy to panic.

Didn't he_ just_ do an inspection?

Making her sick to her stomach with his feather light touches and puffs of breath against her skin.

She gripped the countertop as neausea twisted through her body and she slowly sunk to the floor.

Heaving deep breaths of the hot bath steam she rested her head against the countertop edge and eyed the bottle of vintage perfume.

She reached for it without thinking and shook the bottle against the stopper before removing it and swiping it against the skin below her ears and wrists.

The scent was like midnight jasmine and it made her homesick.

But there was a definite calm that overcame her as the scent washed over her.

Hermione spent almost an hour sitting in the steam and jasmine perfume, her stomach turning in knots as the minutes passed.

Finally, when she knew she could wait no longer she got up and headed for her room to find her black shift dress. It was the easiest to take on and off. Hermione grimaced at this knowledge.

And then she waited.

She watched as the last remnants of sunlight drowned in darkness and the starless sky blackened her windows. She watched as the fire smouldered and then sprang to life as it reached a fresh log beneath the ashes.

Her feet were cold against the wood floor and she tucked them under her as she shifted in the high-backed chair.

The hours went on and she the inkling of hope that he would not come for her was quickly squashed as he walked in unannounced.

The dark circles under his eyes were even darker and made his eyes look hollow in the firelight.

"Come" he snapped and she bit the inside of her cheek in nerves.

She slowly rose to her feet and followed him into the hallway.

The short procession to his apartments down the corridor had her heart pounding in her ears and she could barely hear him ask for her to remove her dress.

With shaking hands Hermione pulled at the draw string to the cloth corset and loosened it as carefully as she could.

She glanced around and saw his back turned to her as he shuffled through paperwork at his desk.

Hermione pushed the short sleeved dress off her shoulders and watched as it fell to her feet silently.

The loose knot Hermione had pulled her hair into was suddenly pulled out and she gasped as his fingertips in her hair.

This was when she hated him the most. When he made her _know_ she was his.

His touch was different this time. He knew her body now. Knew her curves and dips from _that_ night. She shut her eyes tight as her skin pebbled under his hands as they ghosted over her shoulders and down her arms simultaneously. She felt him pause at her wrists and nothing but the sound of his steady breathing and the burning fire to hint at what he was doing. The moment passed and she squeezed her eyes tighter as he began to draw down her torso. His movements were quick and precise. But to Hermione it felt like years for his hands to reach her frozen toes.

Then he was gone.

His touches and his puffs of breath removed from her body, but his voice rose from across the room making her jump.

"Get dressed" he muttered as the sound of a quill scratched against parchment.

Only then did Hermione open her eyes to the floor and pull her thin dress up and over her hips.

"You need to eat more protein. Your weight wouldn't be such an issue if you ate your meals completely, but other than that you're fine." His voice low and obviously disinterested.

She looked up at him, his head bowed over his desk and his worn feather quill dancing against the parchment as he wrote quickly.

_Fine?_

**_FINE?_**

"I'm _fine_?" she hadn't realized she said it aloud until he stopped writing and looked up at her.

His dark hollow eyes stared up at her and she began to feel the fire she had lost roar within in her.

"Yes, physically and mentally you are fine. And it would serve you well to refer to me as _Master_." He snapped back.

"Well, _Master_, I can tell you that I am most certainly _not _fine." It was beyond the point of return and she couldn't control the anger suddenly bubbling within her.

"I'm underweight because my teeth hurt too much from chattering all the time! My head pounds so hard at night I think I'm going to bleed from my eyes! The warming charms have worn off and I'm certain I'm going to freeze to death!" she had made her way across the room to his desk and she could feel the heat in her face from yelling.

He looked at her with great composure and rested his hand on a wooden box on his desk "Hermio-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO _BREATH_ YOU PERVERTED ARSE!" she screamed.

"You think you can say my name, give me some gifts for being a good little pet and the nightmare will subside?!" she continued as she angrily pushed the wooden box off his desk watching as it crashed to floor and split open.

The socks and dragon skin boots inside scattering across the room as she slammed her fists on the desk.

"You are _nothing_ but a perverted, sick, coward who can't face his problems! I will _never_ be fine so long as I'm your slave, NO, so long as you're _alive_! I hope you and your murderous father rot in hell!" Her chest heaved as she caught her breath and her spine shivered as she heard a voice clear from behind her.

Malfoy casually glanced behind her and then to his desk.

Hermione felt paralyzed. She knew almost right away who was behind her. His voice and overpowering scent of cologne made her sick to her stomach.

Her lip quivered as she realized the situation she was in, "I-I-" she stuttered and then she fell to the floor with a powerful blow to her cheek.

Her body hitting a chair as she fell limp to the floor.

"Do you normally allow her to speak to you this way Son?" his voice was sickeningly haughty and Hermione whimpered as she opened her eyes the sight of them standing over her.

Draco was silent as Lucius stood over his shoulder, both looking down at her.

"If you do not reprimand her, I will have to…" Hermione could see the glimmering Malfoy crest ring on Draco's hand was covered in blood.

"Draco-" she whimpered and there was another blow to her stomach.

She gasped for air as it was kicked from her lungs and curled onto her side, blood dripping across her face.

"Please I-" she gasped and she screamed as there was a crack and a searing pain through her eyes into her skull.

She took two more backhands to her bloody eye before he turned her face to him,

"You will refer to me as _Master_." Hermione thought he looked lost. Like he didn't know where he was or how he got there. And then he was gone as her eyes went black and she felt into darkness.

* * *

Hermione would wake up shivering and cold against a wet stone floor.

Draco in his bed, frozen to the core.

Neither knowing how they got there.


	11. Welcome To The Darkness

**I DONT OWN ANYTHING -ALL RIGHTS TO JK ROWLING**

* * *

**_FLASHBACK_**

The smell of blood was sickening as it invaded her nostrils and clung to her lungs. Her labored breaths were forced as she tried to evade the stench. Coughing and coughing until she was dry heaving, her head turned away from them. She felt a hand on her back, caressing its way up, her hair being pulled back as she vomited. It wasn't the smell of blood; it was the smell of _death_.

She spit the remains of the acidic bile onto the stone floor and turned into the warm body beside her, his arms wrapping around her. She could feel his head resting atop hers and then a second body hugged her from behind.

Her eyes closed and her stomach churning against itself. Hermione let herself imagine that they were back at Grimmauld Place, the Burrow, or even Hogwarts.

But the moment passed before it had fully formed and she whimpered into Ron's chest.

They were surrounded by the corpses of almost 20 people. Some were members of the Order, some were innocents, and there were even a few muggles. All lay strewn across the room, victims of horrific means of torture and mutilation before their deaths.

The rumors were true. Voldemort really had become obsessed with muggle means of torture. The sight of eyes gouged out of a young Ernie MacMillan accompanied by the vile odor of rotting flesh was too much for her to take.

The trio huddled close together, sharing what little warmth they had. Ron slung his injured arm over Harry's shoulder, while Harry did the same with his wand arm, effectively sandwiching Hermione between them. The comforting closeness was short lived.

"Interrupting am I?" the crisp haughtiness of Lucius Malfoy's voice echoed against the cold walls of the dungeon.

Harry pulled away first, blocking her from the elder Malfoy's view.

"What is this place?!" Harry demanded from their captor.

"Do you _honestly_ think I am going to indulge you with such information? The Dark Lord has given you too much credit to your name Potter." Lucius' said offhandedly while admiring his cane.

"Careful Malfoy, wouldn't want Voldemort to hear you saying such things, would you now?" Hermione hissed from behind Harry's shoulder.

There was a flash of silver light and the three of them were ripped apart from their huddle.

All suspended in the air, arms and legs magically bound together, the trio were lined up like targets. Harry on the left, Ron on the right and Hermione between them.

"I would watch my own tongue if I were you _mudblood._" Lucius hissed whipping the head of his cane across her cheek.

As her head went limp and lolled forward in the momentary black out, Ron and Harry shouted and fought against their restraints only to receive their own blows to the stomach.

By the time Hermione regained consciousness the number of living people began to outweigh the dead. Death Eaters lining the far wall, their metal masks reflecting nightmarish expressions through their lit wands.

Her ears were ringing, her head pounding from the inside of her skull, and her cheek felt broken. Tilting her sore neck up, she made eye contact with Lucius and let out a whimper as he brandished his cane.

Then, he chuckled.

Hermione shut her eyes and tried to erase the noise from her echoing ear drums.

It sent gooseflesh down her back and into her legs, had she been standing she knew she would have fallen to the ground.

But from her 3 feet off the ground she slowly turned her head to look both at Harry and Ron.

Harry's glasses were askew and he had a cut across his face, while Ron wore a worsening black eye.

"Now to business!" Lucius announced sending an obvious energy shift through the room.

The Death Eaters stations around the room all became alert, adjusting their posture focusing their gazes on the three prisoners.

"In light of recent events," Lucius slipped off his cloak and handed his cane to a figure just behind him "…the Dark Lord has deemed it _strategically_ beneficial…" his voice as sinister as ever while he rolled up his sleeves with great care "…that he…for the moment…_spare_ your lives," Hermione watched as he held out his hand expectantly to another that placed his wand delicately into his.

"So that we may…_convince…_you to share where your _friends_ are hiding." His voice sadistically cheerful as he dropped each word delicately into the room.

There was silence as the trio, heads hung, began to build their mental walls around their secrets. It was standard prisoner practice. Give them even your darkest most personal secrets, anything to keep them preoccupied to get lost in the search for their goal.

Lucius stepped forward, the heavy silence in the room filled only by his footsteps against the blood covered floor.

"So I will ask you once again… _where_ is the Order of the Phoenix?"

Nobody moved. Not a single breath taken.

"Come now…" Lucius implored with a faux politeness in his voice "surely even the scum of the earth know when to answer a question!" he teased.

"I said…" his voice dropping suddenly "WHERE ARE THEY?" and then there was pain.

Such incredible pain and screams that echoed from every direction. The three friends writhed and fought their restraints as the pain continued to tear through their bodies.

And then it was gone.

Hermione grit her teeth together and fought to keep her head up. Her muscles were going into atrophy and she refused to look like the weak mudblood for her captors.

She watched as Lucius paced before them, clearly thinking of other strategies behind his angry eyes.

"You're asking the wrong questions." A voice said from the shadows.

Hermione felt her head pound in her chest. _It couldn't be…_

The trio watched as Draco emerged from the shadows, his eyes darkened with anger and anxiety.

"You're asking the wrong questions father." The young Malfoy informed Lucius.

Father and son stood side by side in front of Harry, everyone's heads turned toward the pair.

"What you really want to know...is…where the elder wand is."

The flash of fear in Hermione's eyes was impossible to hide.

The boys instinctually throwing glances towards her before hanging their heads.

_How did they know the elder wand even existed?! _

Draco stepped in front of Hermione, staring straight into her eyes.

"She knows" his voice lacking in expected excitement.

Lucius was at his side within milliseconds, his wand at her throat.

"Yes!" He hissed in excitement, "Yes she must! I can see it in her eyes; it will be easy with Legilmency!"

"No." Draco's voice unwavering as he cocked his head "she is far too knowledgeable and skilled in Occlumency."

Lucius glanced at his heir with frustration and a hint of disgust as his wand pressed harder into Hermione's throat.

"What then do you suggestion, _son_?" he snapped.

Draco turned on his heel and began to pace as Lucius had before. His fine leather shoes clicking against the blood stained floor.

"We make it hurt where it counts of course." Draco said coolly.

Lucius' gaze snapped to Harry in excitement.

"Not Potter…the Dark Lord wants him alive and unspoiled. The blood traitor on the other hand…is the mudblood's lover."

Hermione stared into Draco's eyes and watched as the dead soul behind them cut her heart in two.

The next moment Ron was screaming until his voice was so strained he was silent.

"WHERE IS THE ELDER WAND!?" Lucius screamed, his wand fixed on Ron's writhing body.

Hermione screamed and pleaded for him to stop as Ron continued to contort his body under the pain of Cruciatus.

"PLEASE STOP YOU'LL KILL HIM PLEASE NO STOP STOP STOP!" She begged as Lucius screamed back at her.

"WHERE IS IT?!"

"PLEASE JUST- NO- PLEASE!" Hermione's eyes filled with tears as blood trickled down Ron's forehead as he screamed.

She shut her eyes and listened as Ron's voice renewed with magic wailed and screamed filling the room with audible agony.

Harry's continued shouts towards both Malfoy's and his shouts to Hermione to not say anything we're drowned out by the painful screams of her boyfriend.

Hermione looked up, her cheeks wet with tears and her heart and head colliding furiously as the seconds passed.

"WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS THE ELDER WAND?! TELL ME! TELL ME WHERE THE ELDER-"

"**DUMBLEDORE!" **she screamed and sobbed. Her eyes connecting with Draco's.

"DUMBLEDORE HAS IT!" she screamed through her tears.

Ron's screams continued as the information filtered through their ears.

"Please…" she sobbed, begging Draco to stop him.

Draco stared at her through the chilling screams.

"Please" she whispered with what little breath she still had through her sobs.

Draco watched as her shoulders shaked and her head hung with her heavy sobs.

"Father…" he said quietly "that's enou-"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Lucius shouted.

The room was filled with green light and a blood curdling scream.

Ron lay on the floor, eyes wide and staring into nothing.

* * *

The smell was the same and the voice still echoed in her head as she stood in the dungeon.

It had been here. In his home. Beneath his shiny wood and marbled floors. Beneath his manicured gardens and perfect afternoon teas.

She pulled her knees against her chest and let the silent tears fall. Her feet frozen against the stone floor, she rubbed them against each other hoping they wouldn't fall off.

Lucius Malfoy was an evil man.

That she knew.

Dark, sadistic, evil, manipulative man.

The proof was written across his life and she intended to end it.

* * *

It was two days later when Draco stood at the dungeon gate to collect her.

With his hand outstretched, the two returned to the East Wing with one thing on their minds.

_Death._


	12. Welcome To The Dream

"All done Miss!" the tiny voice rang as Gilly finished washing her hair.

With bloodshot eyes, Hermione continued to stare into nothing. Her mind miles away from the soap in her hair and the hot bath water she soaked in.

Her thoughts wandering to Ron, Malfoy, Harry, her parents, and even Crookshanks; but ultimately it was Lucius Malfoy that stole her thoughts.

She had never in her life wanted someone to suffer more than him. To writhe and scream in agony before going cold and forever suffering in his afterlife.

These thoughts scared Hermione; frightened her to the core.

She had never in her life wished harm upon another person, at least not with such fire and passion behind it.

What if her life as a slave was affecting her mind? Her lack of magic and a wand getting to her head?

Or maybe it was spending so much time with _him_.

This thought frightened her most.

With a gasp she sunk beneath the water and let out a sob as soapy water swirled around her.

* * *

Draco stood silently in the ensuite doorway watching as shampoo suds slid down the steamy wet skin of her bared neck.

With her back to him and the windows and mirror fogged she was oblivious to his presence.

Her days since the dungeon had been difficult.

Night terrors plaguing her into the early hours of the morning. Her screams echoing down the corridors until she was given potion.

She had hardly eaten a full meal and refused to leave her room.

Draco's brow furrowed with concern as she remained frozen within the steamy water. He was about to take a step into the bathroom when she let out a feminine gasp and plunged herself beneath the water.

Losing sight of her beneath the swirling suds, he waited a moment, only hearing a soft moan from beneath the water.

She was suffering.

And so was he.

Turning back into her bedroom, Draco waved his wand over her bed and watched as small chest appeared. Turning to her reading table he waved his wand again, a small piece of parchment and a quill appearing before him.

Scrawling a single sentence arcross the parchment he folded it and left it atop the trunk.

Maybe today would be different…

* * *

With damp hair and a towel around her shoulders, Hermione shuffled back into her bedroom to be greeted by a small trunk on her bed. The dark wood box was clearly expensive.

Hugging her towel closer, she took the note resting on the box and fingered it open.

_Please join me in the foyer, you will need these. _

_-D_

Her stomach churned in anxiety as she looked back to the box.

_What now?_ _More dresses and lingerie? Ribbons and bows for Master?_

Tucking her towel beneath her arms, she used both hands to lift the heavy oak lid and let out a soft

"Oh"

Her anxiety vanishing, replaced by curiousity, Hermione pulled out a pair of knee high dragon skin boots. More elegant than they were meant to be, the boots were black. Well, almost black. The glimmer of an irridesent greenish blue twinkled in the afternoon light beaming through the window. The laces made of the finest dragon wiskhers she had ever laid eyes on.

They were…stunning.

Hermione held them closely to her chest and stared at her bedroom door.

Malfoy was an odd man.

He wasn't kind, but he wasn't cruel.

He may have hurt her often…tormented her emotions, but he had always been gentle with her body.

_In more ways than one_.

She blushed in the embarrassment of it all as she walked towards her dresser, boots in hand.

Despite being a bedslave, Hermione had yet to be called upon since their first encounter.

She had never expected him to keep his word since trading off Dean to his cronies.

Pulling a clean slip over her head she sighed in sadness at the thought of Dean. She had heard nothing of him since that nightmarish day.

The guilt and hatred she felt plagued her dreams. Accompanied by the devilish face of Lucius Malfoy and the red eyes of Voldemort himself. Awaking to screams and tears rushing down her face, the icy blue eyes of Draco holding her down as Gilly force fed her Dreamless Sleep Potions had become ritual and she wished so hard it would stop.

Looking into her wardrobe, Hermione pulled the darkest dress she had that wasn't black. Her black dress was reserved for the days Mistress Malfoy and Master Lucius joined them in the East Wing.

The dress was a deep, muted purple and it was fitted with fitted long sleeves for the approaching Winter.

Looking into the mirror against the wall, Hermione frowned at the length of the winter gown. With an angry fist she ripped the frilly bows off of each sleeve and hiked up her skirt, tying it up with the torn fabric.

Pulling on her new boots, she wished she had magic to lace them up. It took almost five whole minutes to tighten and tie them each before she was comfortable with the fit.

Admiring her new outfit, Hermione felt, for the first time in a long time, independence.

Creating an outfit that she actually liked and wanted to wear. The dress skirts, falling in layers around her knees so her boots got just as much attention as she useless bows now serving a purpose.

With her hair wild and loose around her shoulders like always she headed for the door.

She stood there, hand wrapped around the handle…frozen.

* * *

Draco cast a tempus charm again.

"Where the bloody hell is she?" he whispered to himself.

He had been waiting in the East Wing foyer beneath the ballroom for almost an hour. The Winter skies clouding over the Manor didn't worry him as much as her not joining him.

"Gilly!" he shouted.

The elf appeared before him in a low bow with a POP.

"Where is Miss Granger?" he asked the elf, his tone impatient already.

"Gilly help Missy Hermione bathe and then goes to kitchens to cook duck." Gilly said nervously.

"Please go and find her. Tell her that if she does not join me that-"

"That what?"

Draco whirled around to look up at the staircase.

Her hair as wild as ever, her dress almost that of a ragamuffin, and – yes- the boots fit perfectly.

"That…" he straightened his posture "…I would be quite disappointed." He cleared his throat and excused Gilly as Hermione made her way down the staircase.

She stood before him silently, her eyes locked on his feet where they seemed quite comfortable.

"The boots fit well, yes?" Draco asked as he clasped his hands behind his back.

She nodded.

He tilted his head slightly and swore he caught the faintest lift in her cheeks, but it was gone in a flash.

There was more silence between them, more tense than usual.

With a curt nod and a clear of the throat again, Draco made to turn for the cloak rack when she made a noise.

"Did you say something?"

"I- erm…." Her eyes lifted to his "I just- thank you. The boots I mean."

Draco stared at her. His absolute astonishment forever masked by his stoic gaze.

The first words of peace from her since her arrival and he didn't know what to do with himself.

So they stood there in the foyer, the only sound was the wind blowing through the trees outside the windows.

Draco hadn't remembered looking into her eyes this long before and discovered that there, around her pupil was a ring of golden flecks of yellow and gold within her deep brown eyes.

* * *

His eyes had always been cold and grey to her, but now after closer inspection they reminded her of the sea after a storm.

The hints of radiant blue shining through the icy grey.

They were beautiful.

She snapped back to reality at that and looked down to his feet again.

Hermione listened as he cleared his throat and glanced up to see him take his cloak from the hook along the wall as well as a second one, lined with a deep red fabric.

"You have been sickly the past few days." He stated with a matter of fact in his voice.

"So I thought, seeing as you've been behaving since…your return…" she sniffed with indignation "…I thought it best you get some fresh air." He handed her the second cloak as he pulled his around his broad shoulders.

Hermione stood frozen, the cloak in her hands, her mouth ajar.

"You mean…" she started

"We are to take a stroll of the East Gardens. You are to stay by my side the entire time, if you make any attempt to run you will find Death Eaters lining the perimeter of the Manor grounds. However, I highly doubt after your time away you are really considering that." He sounded uncomfortable. As if any mention of her stay in the dungeons made him ill.

She almost enjoyed that if it weren't for the pity she denied to acknowledge she felt.

With a nod she swiftly pulled on the cloak and found a pair of pockets lining the inside. It was one of the nicest cloaks she had ever worn before.

"Granger"

She looked up to see him standing at the door, his hand outstretched. "Come here."

Hermione hesitantly joined him and relaxed as he lowered his hand to unlock the door with his wand.

Hermione felt her skin tingle, the proximity between her and a spell was like breathing air for the first time all over again. She watched as he uncharmed each lock and spell on the door, the way he caressed his wand and turned it into his wrist with each enchantment.

She would deny it to her grave, but it was almost erotic to watch.

Then, with a loud click, the door clicked open and an icy cold breeze filtered into the foyer.

And without ceremony, Draco guided out the door by the shoulder and shut the door with the flick of his wand.

Hermione smiled.

The feeling of dirt and gravel beneath her shoes was amazing, her hair whipped around her face as the stormy wind blew around them and she could not be happier.

As promised the headed through a small grove of trees and lead to a rose garden, which despite the great magic he possessed, Draco had let die with the season and was now left to stroll through barren, thorned shrubs.

But Hermione could care less. Each step, each breath was more thrilling and exciting than the last and she wanted to walk farther and farther. But Malfoy kept a firm grip on her shoulder and refused to let her take a single step further than he.

The surprising amount of warmth radiating from his hand to her shoulder was actually quite welcome, as the cold wind became more and more harsh.

They reached the border of the wood and Hermione found herself leaning into his hand, the cold wind harshest against the trees.

They stood together in silence as the storm began, a light haze of rain dusting their cloaks.

"How…how long have I been here?" she asked without looking at him.

Feeling his body stiffen and shift, the sound of gravel moving beneath his feet.

"I don't think it wise-"he began.

Hermione pulled her hand from her cloak and rested atop his resting on her shoulder.

"Please?" she asked with desperation.

She had to know. It was more maddening than the fact that she was a slave here.

With a longing look into his eyes and a gentle squeeze to his hand she said it again.

"Please? How long?" her voice practically a whisper.

His eyes had been locked on their touching hands before they swiveled down to the damp ground.

"6 Months." His voice filled with guilt.

She felt cold. Not just the icy skin and rosy cheeks cold, but numb and wasted on the inside.

Her hand slowly slipped away from his and her head hung with heaviness.

"I think…I think I'm ready to go- back inside I mean." Her voice cracking through the tears she fought back.

Letting him turn her around, he guided her down the path through the garden once more, this time it felt much, much longer.

Hermione sniffed as a tear rolled down her cheek and just as she was about to wipe it away, the deep rumble of thunder rolled over them and she squealed in fright.

* * *

Draco froze as she pressed herself against his chest and buried her face into the fabric of his cloak. She was trembling as the rain fell harder and another clap of thunder rolled across the sky.

It took him a moment to realize she had no knowledge of just what she was doing and that she was in a panic.

"Granger?" his hands resting on her arms.

"Granger" his said louder and she continued to shake and tremble with her face hidden against his chest.

"Hermione!" he shouted and her head snapped up, tears rolling down her cheeks and her eyes wide with fear.

"We're almost to the Manor. Can you walk?" She nodded as a sob passed through her lips.

Draco managed to lead her back to the manor, just barely making it through the door before she collapsed in the foyer and began to sob.

Throwing his cloak on the floor and gathering Hermione in his arms, Draco made his way up the grand staircase carrying her bridal style. Her head buried into his shoulder with each heavy sob and a hand hooked around his neck.

As they headed through the East Wing, Draco listened as she sobbed, both words and cries into his shoulder.

"He's so cruel!" she wailed.

"This place!"

"Torturous!"

"Ungratefullll!"

Each time he shushed her and she'd sob and squeal with each roll of thunder.

Draco made it to the hallway and was suddenly faced with a decision.

Leave her in her room to wail and suffer through the night alone? Or to put her in his bed with him?

He shook her from her panic gently, "Hermione. Hermione!" Her sobs quieted but she did not look up.

"Do…do you… do you want to stay the night with me?" he blurted it out as quickly as he could.

Even while he held her in his arms it felt awkward to ask. The last time she had slept beside him was of her own accord, the storm chasing her out of her room and into his.

Her sobs had quieted to sniffles and after a long wait she gave a tiny nod against his chest.

With that, Draco turned for his room and kicked the door closed behind them.

He crossed the room, resting a knee on the mattress he gently laid her across the center of his large bed and watched as she turned away from him, burying her face into the coverlet. Leaning over her he began to untie the sinches of her bodice. Pulling her arms through the sleeves was easier than he thought it would be as she turned and lifted them up for him to pull her dress and shift up over her head.

He had seen her naked several times before, but as he turned away to layout her clothes, the image of her in nothing but her dragon skin boots could not deny him arousal. He steeled himself, taking the time to search for a cotton shirt of his for her to sleep in, her silky shift not meant for such a task. Her sad eyes and rain sodden hair pasted against her neck were a sobering sight as he returned to the bed to dress her in a shirt.

This girl. This poor girl who he had been so jealous of in school had suffered so much. Had _endured_ so much and yet she could still make him jealous of the passion and strength she had left.

Pulling the shirt over her head, he let her pull her arms through and lay limp on the bed as he used his wand to untie her boots.

She looked as if she was ready to give up. Obviously the fact he had shared with her about her time at the manor had drained a certain amount of…hope? He decided it was better not to guess what she was thinking.

It only made his guilt worse.

He pulled off each boot delicately and set them at the end of the bed neatly before turning to sit at his desk.

"Wait" she breathed.

He looked over his shoulder, she lay unmoving, knees pulled to her chest and her hair splayed out around her.

She looked like a child with her back turned to him.

He returned to her side and watched as she stretched a hand across the bedspread beside her.

Draco eyed her nervously.

Hermione Granger…inviting him to lay beside her…in bed.

Draco didn't know if he could handle all of these changes in one day. Or even one year for that matter.

Even as he pulled his boots off, he slowly shook his head in disbelief.

Gratitude and willing physical contact within hours.

Blaming it on a physcological imbalance from her stay in the dungeon, Draco hung his waistcoat over a chair and untucked his dress shirt from his slacks.

Even in the dark, he could see her eyes were heavy and she was probably only minutes away from falling asleep.

As he lay down beside her, the pair of them laying across the middle of the mattress, Draco continued to be surprised.

"Do you miss Hogwarts?" her voice as gentle as a summer breeze.

He was silent.

"I do." She answered for him.

"And not just because I liked school..." Her voice was clearly filled with sorrow.

"…I miss the sound of students laughing in the corridors, how the Great Hall always smelled like pumpkin juice and ginger snaps, and no matter how many times they try, Professor Lockhart's painting won't come off the wall in his office."

There were tears pooling in her eyes until they overflowed and fell across the bridge of her nose to the blanket beneath them.

"I miss magic" she strangled out as she shut her eyes and her bit her quivering lip.

"Hogwarts was like-"

"-my second home." He interrupted.

She opened her eyes and looked into his with a hint of surprise.

"Then again this place never felt like home." He confessed suddenly.

The rain beat against his bedroom windows and a flash of lightening lit his bedroom.

Hermione inched closer, only their bent knees touching each other as thunder rolled over the manor.

It only took two more minutes before she was sound asleep, her puffs of breath making his nose itch.

He had so little and at the same time said so much.

This game was becoming more and more dangerous now that she was playing.

* * *

The next several nights following, Hermione had joined him for bed.

The first night she had returned was awkward and they didn't say a word to each other, sleeping on opposite sides of the bed from one another.

Each night she returned, their pillow-talk developed into a ritual. She would arrive after he had gotten in bed, slip under the covers in the dark and confess something.

From wishes and long forgotten dreams, to fears and secret memories of the rebellion.

Never bringing up Potter or Weasley and never mentioning him when she talked of their school days.

They evening he had returned from a two day slave trade with three new slaves all bound for target practice, she did not join him.

He couldn't blame her.

The screams had echoed throughout the entire East Wing for more than two hours and after sending Gilly to her room with supper he had resigned to his room for the remainder of the evening.

It wasn't until a week later there was a soft knock at his door.

Rolling over in the dark, wand in hand, he called out in a sleepy voice "Come!"

The bedroom door slowly opened, just wide enough for her to slip through and shut it silently.

Lowering his wand, Draco watched as she slowly tip-toed across the room and around to, what had become, her side of the bed.

With a heavy sigh, Draco replaced his wand to his bedside table and laid his head back down, the familiar shift in weight on the mattress undeniably comforting.

The nights she had left him were quiet and left him restless, her midnight confessions almost made him forget his real world responsibilities.

As Draco began to settle back to is restlessness, the soft brush of skin against his bare arm awoke him.

The usual space between them was now filled by her slim figure facing him.

Her hand beneath the heavy blanket touching the hand resting on his chest.

Draco lay frozen, staring at her features in the darkness.

Hermione inched closer, her smooth legs brushing against his as she slid a shakey hand up to his bare chest.

She broke eye contact as she focused on what his muscles did beneath her fingertips.

"Tell me a secret." She whispered innocently as she traced his collar bone.

Draco remained silent, her hand traveling down his chest and stomach to rest low on his hip, her thumb stroking circles.

"Tell me?" she whispered again, inching even closer against his body, her leg entwining itself with his.

She leaned closer, her nose brushing against the side of his cheek as her thumb continued to stroke teasing circles into his skin.

"I'll tell you one…" she breathed

"I…I want you to…to touch…me" her breath shaky against his ear.

In one swift move, Draco flipped them, straddling her beneath the sheets, his lips pressed to her neck as she let out a soft gasp.

Grinding his hips against hers, the fast growing erection beneath his boxers pressed through her nightgown and she gave a soft moan.

Draco understood why most pureblood men owned more than one bedmaid, the tension since their last (and first) encounter was so tight he was ready to snap, but then again he wasn't like most pureblood men.

Hermione's hands had latched themselves to his lowerback, clawing at the skin just above his bum.

With one arm holding his weight beside her, Draco pulled his other between her thighs and groaned into her lips as he found her naked beneath the cotton dress.

Her excitement slickening the folds between her thighs, creating a silky smooth path for him to stroke her from entrance to clit.

Pulling away from his passionate lips, Hermione gasped as his finger danced softly over her nub. Brushing against it, teasing her nerves as he stimulated the surrounding skin, not just her clit.

"More" she gasped as she ground her hips against his hand.

Slipping his finger inside her, he watched as she opened her mouth to make a sound but nothing came out.

He knew a finger was nothing compared to the main event, but he could tell she was tight and would need time to warm up.

Draco locked his lips against her neck once more, her pounding pulse against his tongue as he suckled at the soft skin.

His finger pulsating in and out, in and out, stroking her deepest nerves evoking gasps of pleasure every few seconds. He could tell she was nearly ready to orgasm as her breathes became so short for her to take a proper breath.

"Yesyesyesyesyes Ohhhnnn Yesyes yes OhOhOhAh!" her back bowing off the bed as his hand sped up, his teeth catching her earlobe with a soft pinch.

Draco's erection ground against the inside of her thigh as he fingered her until she screamed.

"YESSSSSSUHHNNNNN!" the incoherent pleasure echoed through the room and down the halls.

Pulling his slick finger from her, he stroked himself through his boxers and groaned.

"Hermione" his lips brushing against the crest of her ear.

She had gone limp and was breathing heavily beneath him as she came down from her euphoric orgasm.

"More" she gasped as she continued to catch her breath.

Draco rolled off her and pushed down his boxers kicking them somewhere beneath the sheets to the bottom of the bed.

He shifted her legs so he could kneel between them, taking the time to caress her bent leg, pressing kisses to the inside of her ankle and up to her knee. He felt her skin pebble beneath his lips and he knew she was ready again.

Taking one hand on her hip, the other on his shaft, he lined his cock up with her slick folds. Taking the time to tease her clit with his pulsing head, the soft moan he received made him smirk and continue to tease.

Draco stroked his cock as he pushed his tip within her, making sure to watch her expressive features in the dark.

When she seemed okay, he stroked himself again and pushed a bit deeper, stopping as her brows pulled together and her mouth fell open with a faint mewl of pain.

She was so deliciously tight and slick, it took every ounce of self-control to keep from sheathing himself and cumming deep inside her.

It took all of five minutes to push his cock fully in , his hips locked to hers.

As he began to move she began to mewl in pain and he stopped.

"No…" she began

"It feels better when you move."

And with that he slowly pulled out, just barely exiting her before pushing back in.

The slowpace didn't last long, her cries and pleas for him to pound into her harder and faster came faster than she had just minutes before.

Draco's abdomen was beginning to tighten with the first signs of climax and his growl came through his teeth.

Laying ontop of her body, her dress pushed up so her breasts pressed against his and his hips snapped with skill and practice against hers. He breathed heavily into the space between her ear and the pillow, the guttural tone of pure pleasure making it a growl.

"I'm going to cum."

She merely responded with a higher pitched moan as she clawed at his back.

Sitting up, he reached a hand between them, teasing her clit with a slicked finger as he snapped his hips harder.

She began to pant as she had before.

"Yesyesyesyes-"

While he growled deeply.

"Guuuuhnnnn-"

"YesssyesyesOhYe-Yes Oh- Yesyesyes-"

"UhhUHhGnnnnuhhh-"

"YESYESYESYES**DRACO**!"  
"GYYAHHHH!"

Draco saw a flash beneath his eyelids and collapsed on top of her.

Their sweat and fluids mingling as he softly pumped his hips before pulling out and rolling over.

Draco and Hermione lay there, legs and arms entwined as semen slipped down her thigh.

"Tell me a secret" she asked quietly once they had caught their breath.

Now completely nude, Hermione's head was resting on his chest his hand drawing circles on her back.

Draco stared into the dark canopy above them while she looked up at him.

"I wish my father were dead."

The silence was heavy between them.

Hermione turned her head to lay back down and just when he thought she was falling asleep he heard her whisper.

"So do I."


End file.
